Speciality pork products have long been a strength in Ireland but some producers seem to have a unique magic ingredient, and Kelly's of Newport would certainly be up there among the chosen few.
An excellent traditional butchers with a licensed abattoir where they slaughter all their own locally sourced lamb and beef, Kelly's history is one of brothers - Dominick and Michael, who founded the business in the 1930's; Dominick's sons Sean and Seamus, who took over from them; and Sean's sons Kenneth and Cormac who have more recently joined the business.
It's a great team, headed up by Sean who is the very essence of the cheery traditional butcher - and, between them, they do an exceptional job.
Although their products are now widely distributed, people love the shop and travel great distances for a bit of banter and to buy Kelly's black and white puddings and sausages - and, especially, their traditional 'putog' black pudding, a unique product similar to haggis (but with a different recipe - a family secret of course); the name translates as 'gut', 'intestine' or 'belly', referring to the sheep's stomach traditionally used for the casing.
This hard working and imaginative team is also known for coming up with creative variations on traditional themes - a well known example is the 'pint of stout' black pudding, which features on a postcard that has winged its way all over the world, and they also have seasonal themes, such as Christmas crackers.
Recent introductions include Kelly's Wild Atlantic Pudding; developed in celebration of Wild Atlantic Way (and the Gourmet Greenway Food Trail, which goes through Newport), its magic ingredient is seaweed from the nearby Atlantic shoreline. The perfect souvenir, Sean Kelly says "It’s our modern twist on the old stick of rock.” More surprisingly perhaps, vegetarian products are proving a great success.
You can enjoy products from the shop at the excellent café Kelly's Kitchen (www.facebook.com/KellysKitchenNewport), next door, which is run by Sean Kelly’s daughter, Shauna (see separate entry) and, if your visit is on a Thursday or Friday morning, you can book a guided Econonmusée tour of the business, including tastings.
Among many awards received down the years, a particular point of pride is successive honours in the international competition run in France by the Confrèrie des Chevaliers du Goute-Boudin (The Brotherhood of the Knight of the Black Pudding) leading, in 2010, to a full ceremonial visit by the Chevaliers, when Sean was made an official member. An honour indeed.
